Archive for December 31, 2010

Teresa | December 31, 2010
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Charity challenge

If you were reading this blog a year ago, you may remember that I challenged myself to knit mittens for charity.  My knitting group – the Knit Wits of Braham – knits lots of things for charity: chemo hats and lap blankets, mittens and hats for school kids and the local food shelf, baby blankets for a couple different family crisis organizations. 

A few weeks ago, a member of our group challenged us to knit scarves as she had seen something on TV about people in need of scarves.   My goal is to knit one scarf per week.

Scarf #1

This is my scarf for this week.  It is purple (which is so hard to photograph accurately) and white.  Knit in a 1 x 1 rib on my knitting machine.

First scarf of the challenge

It is over 5 feet long, plus the fringe.  It is made from acrylic yarn, as is most of my charity knitting.  It is really heavy and will keep someone warm, but  I think I will ease up on the tension on the next one for a fluffier feel. 

Here is a sneak peak at a Christmas gift – we are celebrating tomorrow.  100% alpaca wrist warmers.

Wee wrist warmers

I don’t think the recipients will see them here!  I hope to get pictures of these on their new owners.  They are way cuter than they look in this picture. 

Happy New Year!

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Teresa | December 30, 2010
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The optimist

The summer solstice has passed.   That is always a turning point for me.  Since last Tuesday and Wednesday (both equally lit days) we have added nine, yes NINE, (9!) minutes of day light.   I’m not really a weather geek, but my weekly calendar, which I cannot live without, has  the sunrise and sunset times listed for each day.  I hardly ever calculate the minutes as the days get shorter, but I almost always do for the first few weeks after the solstice.   Even if those minutes are barely noticeable, I like to know they are there! 

A few days back I took this shot of the deck.  I was inside and saw these perfect little tracks just outside our door.

wee tracks

We had two lovely days of sunshine this week and the birds were singing like crazy.  The sun shining on their little bird brains must have signalled to them that another spring will come — some day!   I got my 2011 calendar and filled in all the monthly meetings and events for next year.  We received a seed catalog in the mail already.   So, there is the proof!   A new year is just days away and spring can’t be too far after that, right?

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Teresa | December 23, 2010
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What if….

Embrace passed away overnight Monday night.  And since then I can’t help but wonder….

What if we hadn’t bred her last year and she wouldn’t have had a cria in June?  Was that too much for her?   She had 5 crias in each October from 2002 to 2006.  Then 3 spring crias in 2008, 2009 and 2010. 

What if we hadn’t sheared her fiber so short this year?  She really hadn’t grown much fiber back this fall.

What if we had weaned her cria sooner? 

What if we had put a coat on her sooner?

What if we had taken her to a warmer place sooner?

What if we had kept her here?

There is no ‘re-do’ button in life.  There are no answers to those questions.  Embrace will be missed.

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Teresa | December 17, 2010
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Embrace’s tropical vacation

Embrace is one of the original alpacas we purchased in 2002.   She gives kisses.  She has always given kisses for treats.

In 2005

 She has had 8 babies here.

In 2008

As she has aged, she grows less fiber each year.  She has always been a very eater – to the point of being overweight (or nearly so) most of the years she has been here.   But this year, she didn’t bounce back as fast while nursing her cria.  And in September she got really sick and lost some weight. 

In 2009

 The crias are now weaned, so she should have been able to add a little weight.  That did not happen.   When the weather turned cold, then extremely COLD, Embrace was not keeping warm.  Then the beginning of this week, we had a couple sub-zero nights and Embrace quit eating.  I felt pretty sure she was not sick, just cold.  I put on a fleece blanket, a cria coat, then a heavy horse blanket (which she did not like) and still she just sat and shivered and wouldn’t eat. 

So I called our friends at Twisted Suri Alpaca Ranch.  They came over in their van and picked her up and took her home to stay in the ‘warm room’ in their barn.  As soon as she got there, she started eating again and has been since!   Thank you, Roger and Gina.  We are blessed to have friends like you!

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Teresa | December 16, 2010
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Shop Make-over

It wasn’t an extreme make-over – no walls crashing, wrecking balls or explosions – but I made a few changes in my little gift shop and thought I would show them to you.   This room was originally the dining room of our home.  It is conveniently by the front door and so became my gift shop a few years ago.

West wall

This wall is opposite the window, so the picture got weird colored.  Not much new here.   Sweaters and shawls on the hanging rack.

North wall

I love these baker’s racks for displaying products.  I have teddy bears, mittens and gloves on the first.  Then I have a little square of grid wall for my socks.  Hats, scarves, baby socks, baby blankets and rugs fill up another baker’s rack.

East wall

I have my yarn rack on this wall along with some roving and finger puppets.  You can see part of my big wooden alpaca on the outside of the window! 

South wall

And here is the reason for the make-over.   That tall shelving unit is new.  I have felting kits, scarves, color books and stadium seats on the shelves.  I also have felted soap, dish clothes, handbags, and wrist warmers on the table.  And roving and rugs under the table. 

It is a lot packed in a small room, but the extra shelves keep it neat and easy to see everything.  Before the new shelves I had a rack that was made to be a mini greenhouse.

Fiber

Here it is in it’s new home!  I am using it to store my second quality fiber.  This is the less-soft or short fibers that I use for felting or have made into rugs.  And now it looks much better than it did in a big pile! 

There was no shouting ‘Move that bus’, no jumping around and screaming or crying, but I am still happy to have my mini-makeover complete!

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Teresa | December 12, 2010
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What to do in a big storm?

While the sun is shining today, yesterday was 24 hours of snow and wind.  So I made some additions to my online shopping page.  I added a new category called the Bargain Bin and stocked it with some marked down items.   Take a look and maybe you can find a gift at a bargain price. 

I also finished this hat.  I LOVE it!  I made one last summer and it sold at Farm Tour and I don’t think I ever got to show it to you.   This is my handspun yarn.

Front view

It is also SO simple.   Just a straight tube of stockinette stitch, with a row of eyelets near one edge.  Then make a long i-cord and string through the eyelet holes.

Back view

Cinch up the i-cord and tie a bow.  The top looks a little like a flower and the bow makes the back look so cute. 

Made into a gaiter

And if you loosen up or remove the i-cord and slide it over your head and….   it’s a gaiter!   You could even use bright colored ribbons instead of the i-cord to close up the top.  It’s up for grabs – $35.

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Teresa | December 3, 2010
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Mitten Knittin’ : part 2

Sewing the seams on mittens take way longer than knitting them on my knitting machine.  But I got them all sewn up by Wednesday night.

Seams complete

And I learned a few things! 

#1     If Doritos are required to maintain energy while sewing seams, have no fear of the dreaded Doritos-fingers.  Felting  will remove any crumbs. 

#2     If an Asian beetle flies into the mitten seam at the exact time I’m pulling the yarn through for a stitch, gets its legs stuck in the yarn and makes that nasty stinky smell, have no fear!   Felting will remove that smell. 

Thursday morning, into the wash machine they went.

Bucket of wet mittens

To felt things, I put them in pillowcases, tie the pillowcase shut and toss them in my washing machine with the lowest setting of water with the hottest water.  It usually takes about 10-15 minutes to felt.  Again I learned something!

#1    The more items per pillow case, the faster they felt!   I put 2 pair of mittens in each of 2 pillowcases and the 5th pair in another pillow case alone.  The pillowcases with 4 mittens thrashing around felted faster than the pair that was all alone.   So, check the pillowcase with the most items first!

#2   It is okay to put things of different colors in the same pillowcase.  I had always put each pair of mittens into separate pillowcases when felting so the fibers that come loose wouldn’t get on the mittens of another color.  While the loose fibers did get on the mittens, they didn’t felt in as I had feared. 

On the drying rack

After a spin in the wash machine, 5 pair of lovely felted mittens are drying on my drying rack.  (I make these too!)   Saturday they will be on display at my last craft show.  $25 / pair.  Stop by and do some shopping.

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